Rebound
by Saor
Summary: Brooke Stevens was your regular teenager. Key word in that sentence, 'was'. Now she's being transported to aother place she's sure she doesn't want to go to, and makes quite the appearance, not knowing the surprises that'll soon come her way. So unwilling
1. Just Another Day

Chapter 1

Just Another Day

Disclaimer- I do not own the story/idea of X-men or the characters, just my original character Brooke…also if there are ones that you have no clue who they are, they're probably original characters too.

When I was little, I used to love going out with my father at the end of the day to one of the many hills in our backyard and watch the sun set over the lake in the distance. He had even built a swing set in between two thick trees so we didn't have to sit on the itchy straw that popped out in patches among the grass.

Each clear night, it was just me and my daddy. Just us watching the sun fade over the dark blue water and stain it in colours of reds and orange as it was swallowed into the lake. We would stay out there until the last remnants of the day had disappeared into the night. Only then would we get off the swing and head back for home.

Those nights were our time; he would remind me how much he loved me, and that I was the daughter had had always dreamed of having – and more. I was too young to really understand how much he cared for me, or to tell him how much I loved him. But I think he always knew. He was that kind of guy.

He told me he would always be there for me.

He told me he would never leave me alone.

He told me I was his best friend.

And he was mine.

My name is Brooke Stevens, I'm sixteen years old, soon to be sixteen, and I live with my mother in New Orleans. My older brother got out of high school last year and is living in Alberta right now. My father died two years ago in a car crash. A two-car, front-end collision, that's what I'm told happened. But anyway back to the present.

So a little about me, I have medium length, brown sun streaked hair, brown eyes, and am about five feet and six inches tall… I think… Right now, I live with my mother in New Orleans, Louisiana. Not by choice anyway. We used to live in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, in a little town that if I wrote down you would choke yourself trying to say it out loud. I had a happy life there. It was my home. After my father died two years ago, my mother said she couldn't handle living there with all the memories, so a year later we got everything organized and moved here so she could pursue her painting career.

I wasn't happy. Even though she does make a lot for her career… That doesn't matter. But I've been here long enough to make some friends so I'm not entirely lonely.

Now, I'm just concentrating on walking to school, in the cold January air, surprisingly there's still no snow, without being hit by the autos hurtling down the road and making through my grade eleven education…

I sighed. Stupid school.

"Hey Brooke!"

I turn around, eyes wide in surprise, to see Erin running at me. She has her hair down, as she always did. I think she does it just because mine's always up, but don't mention that in front of her… She wore denim flared jeans along with an off the shoulder white top.

"Morning, Erin," I replied. I wore my own loose baggy jeans along with an old soccer t-shirt. I _could_ wear more girly-er clothes, but I don't really see the need to, I like my comfy clothes. Besides that, I'm way too lazy to get myself together in the morning and attempt to put any more care into my appearance.

"Brooke?"

"What?"

"Are you even listening to me?"

"I said 'what' didn't I?" I grinned to the side as she seethed angrily.

She got over it quickly, as she always did. This was one reason our friendship has lasted so long, when it was obvious that we were completely different.

"Anyway, I asked if you watched the news yesterday?" she asked as we stepped through the doors into the school.

I looked over to her in a confused fashion, "What is this 'news' you speak of?" I asked, making the air quotes and everything.

"Right," Erin drawled back, "you are so weird sometimes." I grinned back in response. "They were going on about how these mutant people are looking for more mutant people," she said in a deathly serious whisper. I opened my locker and got my books out. Only a few odds and ends fell out today. Accomplishment? Yes indeedy.

"That's nice," I remarked offhandedly, stuffing my belongings into my already bloated book bag.

We walked into homeroom together.

"That's not even the best part!" she whispered in excitement. She brought her face closer to mine and looked around the almost empty classroom to ensure that no one was listening. "They're supposed to be in town – today!"

I gasped in fake horror, then once more adopted my usual bored expression.

"So? I'm not a mutant. I have nothing to worry about."

Little did I know how much I would grow to regret saying those words…

I sighed happily. Ah, sweet lunchtime. My favourite part of the school day. Walking through the backyard of the school, I headed over to a bunch of picnic tables Erin and I use as our meeting place so we could go and get our lunch together. The sun was on the other side of the school, so the entire yard was covered in shadows, making everything cool enough to enjoy the lunchtime break. Stupid duty teachers won't let us inside to eat, something about a food fight… well they're not uncommon!

I saw Erin standing about fifty feet away and waved to get her attention. She didn't do anything in response. I waved a little bit harder, heedless of the fact that a few younger students had to avoid my failing arms. I squinted my eyes, that WAS Erin… why was she ignoring me? I stopped waving. I wasn't about to start yelling at her, I didn't want to give any more of the student population reason to think that I was a bit strange.

I kept walking towards Erin, fully intending to give her a piece of my mind. 'Ignore me will she?…' It was as if she were looking straight through me.

Huh. Weird.

I walked up to her. She was standing at the corner of the school with the sun beaming down on her, she was scouting out the crowds with the sun glaring into her eyes.

I never said she was the brightest crayon in the box now, did I?

I stepped away from the building and stood in front of her.

"Who are you looking for? Aren't you hungry? You're stomach's usually growling by now." I said noting her jump in surprise as I spoke.

"Where'd you come from?" she asked, the surprise still registering on her face.

"Well, it's a long story… I used to live in Nova-" I started to say, shifting into story-telling mode.

"That's not what I mean, Brooke!" she interrupted.

"I was walking right in front of you and you were looking right at me, Erin," I said slowly, explaining things to her so that she might understand everything I was saying. "Don't tell me you need to get your eyes examined…"

"No you weren't!" she cried, defending her sight and sanity.

I readopted my careless expression. "Ok then, I wasn't walking right in front of your face, I just disappeared into thin air and floated here to scare you out of your skin. Yes, that's it exactly…" She opened her mouth to reply again but I held up my hand to stop her in the act. "No. It's lunchtime, I'm hungry, this is too much talking to do without food. Let's eat."

She shrugged; fed up with me again and together we headed towards the cafeteria.

"Oh, the selection…" Erin looked at me sceptically. "What? This is good stuff!"

"Sure. The extra layer of grease makes it delicious." She said.

I shouldn't even have to tell you that she was being sarcastic.

I picked out a chicken sandwich and a bag of roast chicken chips and a bottle of water. I growled underneath my breath at the obscene prices that our school has on some of these items.

"I can't believe you can eat so much and still be as small as you are," Erin sighed.

I shrugged, "What can I say? It's a gift. Besides," I added, dodging out of the way of a pack of rapper wannabes, "it's not as if you're huge or anything, so I don't see why you're complaining."

We paid for our food and went back outside to the shaded picnic tables to chow down.

"So, any more news on your mutant people?" I asked. It was quiet. I had to say something…

Damn you awkward silences!

"Well… Chloe from History class says they might be in New Orleans today, but other than that I haven't heard anything other than that," she finished lamely and took a bite of pizza. There goes my idea for a riveting conversation.

That's when I felt it.

In mid bite of my sandwich, to be exact. I dislike being interrupted from meals…

What was 'it' exactly? It's hard to explain really…

Looking around the grounds, I didn't see anything out of place. I shrugged inwardly, back to eating…

Just when I was opening my chips I felt that disturbing feeling again. Like something wasn't _right._ I snapped my head around and looked to the roof of the school. Still nothing. But it felt like someone was watching me.

Great. Now I'm getting even more paranoid.

"Is something wrong Brooke?" Erin asked when she had paused from taking a sip of her coke.

"I don't think so," I said slowly, still looking to the roof for answers. None were forthcoming. I shifted uncomfortably. There had to be something to explain this feeling. Anything… other than the excuse that I was going crazy.

"Well, I'm done," she said and put her garbage together. "It's your turn to take the trash over, remember…"

"Yeah, yeah." I polished off my chips and water and collected the garbage from our lunch, piling it unceremoniously on my tray and putting Erin's beneath mine.

"Don't fall!" she called out after I had stood up.

"It was just one time!" I said defending myself. "That hadn't even been my fault!"

She's such a great friend to make fun of my klutziness in front of everyone in the schoolyard.

Walking passed the tables and towards the garbage bins, I tried valiantly not to look anywhere's other than directly in front of me. I've discovered that while carrying a tray of garbage it is best to remain from getting distracted. Anyway, I knew that everyone was waiting expectantly for me to make a fool of myself- thanks to Erin's outburst.

Arg. Stupid people.

That was when I felt it again. That odd feeling that someone else's eyes were boring into my back. I snapped around to see what it was. This time, it was coming from the elementary playground, to my right. I twisted so fast that my feet kind of jumbled together and caught on the other one. My trays went flying and everything on them was launched into the air. I felt gravity's pull.

Aw crap.

My landing place was right next to the garbage cans I had been trying so hard to reach without incident. In fact, I landed, rear-end first, in a pile of yesterday's macaroni surprise.

Laughter started ringing out from everyone around me. I felt myself start to tear up in embarrassment. So much for not drawing attention to myself. I would give everything I had to be anywhere's else right now. Anything.

Well, maybe not everything – but a very large sum.

"Hey!" a guy's voice cried out, I didn't move, still too numb from the mortification of having macaroni on my bottom to go anywhere. "Where'd she go?"

Huh? I wasn't expecting that.

How can he… they… whoever… not see me sprawled out on the ground right under their bloody noses?

Ew… must rephrase…

Not that I was complaining about their temporary blindness or anything. I picked myself up from the splattered concrete and saw them all looking around in confusion.

Then they froze.

They froze. As in no one was moving at all. Like mall mannequins… creepy things.

I stood up and look down at myself. I was still stuck on the fact that these dozens of people looking directly at me couldn't see me in all my garbage-covered glory. I looked solid enough. The fact that the same dozens of people had just turned into flesh-covered mannequins was still slightly beyond my comprehension at the moment.

There! The feeling was back again. It was even stronger this time. I was trying to zero in on it again when I heard a strange whoosh of air. Like something, or someone, had jumped off the roof!

Great. First suddenly blind classmates and now suicidal invisible strangers!

I turned back to the school and saw, to my confusion; a woman with bright red hair was standing in front of me. I gasped in surprise. It wasn't just the fact that she had suddenly appeared there that was weird, it was that she was the only one moving in the sea of frozen students.

The woman smiled and spoke, "Hello, Brooke."

Oh yeah, and she knew my name too.

Yep. Just another day in the life of Brooke Stevens.

Hey! Kerei here, let me know if you liked it eh? Me and my beta reader had fun with this! You can be sure.. Next post will be soon!


	2. Lost Appearances

Hi readers (…)! I'd like to make a shout out to my first ever reviewer that hasn't been a member of my family or just out of pity from a friend…Drum roll… Reyavie! Thank you, thank you!

Disclaimer- I do not own X-men. Phew there's a load of my back…

* * *

Rebound

Chapter Two- Lost Appearances

* * *

"What the? How do you know my name?" I demanded.

"That will be explained later."

From the look on her face, I figured that 'later' would be a long time coming. She wore a small little grin similar to the one I'm told I wear whenever I'm up to something. Except mine grin is said to be a nice but naughty smile to sum it up.

I looked around at the mummified teenagers.

"Why are they like that? What did you do to them?"

"You'll find that out as well."

I growled and her grin widened. If I didn't know better, I'd think she was enjoying this. Despite what I may make people think, I'm…usually… aware of what is going on around me, and I like knowing what is going on.

This isn't making me happy.

"Were you the one watching me?"

"No."

"Then who was?"

She looked down at me with a perfectly sculpted eyebrow.

"Let me guess," I said dryly, "You'll find that out later…"

"Good guess."

I looked away from her, absentmindedly picking some of the larger chunks of pasta from my pants as I waited for her to do something. She looked around at the schoolyard, apparently waiting for me to do the same thing. I shifted my seat so that I was sitting on a somewhat cleaner patch of pavement.

"Are you here for a reason?" I asked. Hoping she at least had an answer for staring at me oddly for the past few minutes.

"Yes."

I looked at her, gesturing for her to continue on in her explanation. She smirked.

"Well?" I asked, anger seeping into my voice.

"Come with me," she said, walking passed me, in the direction of the back exit from school property.

Dear Lord, she was as annoying as I was.

Okay… Walk off with a stranger or stand in a mass of mannequins and be covered in garbage? … …

I'll take my chances.

I followed the stranger.

She ended up walking into the park, and me being the good little puppet I am followed behind her silently.

Why was I here again?

The weather decided to have a sort of mood swing and it turned chilly, I rubbed my arms for the added warmth to my exposed skin.

"Come sit down Brooke," the redheaded lady/model said and gestured to a spot on the bench next to her. I looked at her suspiciously, and checked for gum, tacks or some 'X' marks the spot ordeal, before sitting down as far away from her on the petit bench without completely falling off. I then watched her expectantly, waiting for her to give me some explanation for her being here.

Her explanation was silence.

"Do you want me to say I'm ready or something? 'Cause I am… and I have school to..." I cut it off there, after what happened I didn't particularly want to get back any time soon.

"Brooke, you're a special person," she started. She's the fourth person to tell me that in my life, mom, dad, and my speech therapist (when she was trying to make me say special) had all beat her to it.

"So I've been told."

"What have you been hearing on the news lately?"

I shrugged. Might as well not waste my breath if she'd end up telling me eventually anyway. Ah, valuable oxygen.

She looked at me like I was insane and I gave her a look to continue, quite obviously I wasn't the type of person to get wrapped up in all the depressing stuff found in the news. I preferred cartoons and comedies, thank you very much. Life is too short to get depressed over things that I have no control over. She sighed and went on.

"Mutants." She started and I tensed up remembering what Erin told me earlier that day.

"_They were going on about how these mutant people are looking for more mutant people."_

Gulp.

"They're not as bad as people make them out to be," she continued.

'Right,' I thought sarcastically, 'with the superpowers and the hidden identities… They're completely harmless…'

"_They're supposed to be in town – today!"_

Double gulp.

She sighed, "You aren't listening to this are you?"

"Enough to know what you're talking about," So what if my hearing isn't good, and my attention span is even worse…

"Do you know where this is going?"

"Not really. Don't particularly care much neither."

_How about now?_

My eyes widened in surprise. Eep. That was in my head right?

_Yes it was._

"So why am I here then?"

"You are a mutant Brooke, and a very confusing one at that." She smiled. Shyeah! Like that'll make me feel better. What's they difference between a normal (well… as 'normal' as you can get…) mutant and a confusing one? Exercise? Postal code?

"I want my mom." Were the last words I said to her before she obeyed my wish.

Oh the power.

* * *

Well, once those words were obeyed, I immediately wished I had thought of something more practical and selfish. Like money or candy… or…something, anything other than what I got.

I walked up the drive towards the huge manor that had a larger than life garden in the back with lilac trees and a whole bunch of other trees and plants that I have yet to discover the name of. But they smell good. If that counts for anything. I reached the door and one of the housemaids opened the door and welcomed me in.

"Good afternoon Miss Brooke, Welcome home."

I gave her a look. A look that clearly tells that that word is not to be spoken around me.

She got the hint and moved on, "Did you have something for your dinner yet?" She asked as I stepped in with Jean.

"Yes Rosie, where is my mother at the moment?"

"She's out in the entertainment room Miss Brooke, shall I tell her of your arrival?"

"No that's okay, thank you."

She stepped out of the way and let me and Jean pass then tottered off in the direction of kitchen.

I walked down the hall and passed my mom's numerous paintings coating the walls.

"Impressive artwork. Your home is very lovely." Jean offered.

I grunted something unintelligibly and entered the room where my mother was said to be.

It started out well enough… But then again, most things do…

"Mom! I'm…here…" I called out, stopping myself from saying…that…word.

"Hello dear," I heard her call back, "you know we've been living here for a while now, I wish you'd call it your home."

There's a really easy answer for that.

It's not my home.

That was about when it started to go into a definite nosedive.

Mom's response to Jean's explanation as to why she was here just about killed me inside. The expression that came to my mom's face when Jean told her I had special powers that I needed to nurture so I wouldn't bring any damage to myself or others made my heart drop to my stomach – and then lower as Jean went on.

It was the look that she had for so long on her face after dad died. Like the person she knew had died in her eyes too, leaving a shell of what her daughter had been.

From her eyes I knew she would never see me as Brooke anymore. I wasn't the little girl she had comforted when I had a nightmare or skinned my knee. I wasn't the teenager coming to her for guy advice.

I was nothing to her.

Except a piece of mutie trash.

I almost wish she had yelled at me. A long, drawn-out argument would have suited me just fine right about now, I had some frustrations to work out, but she only said five cold words.

"Get out of my house."

Stunned, I didn't say anything. I was frozen to my spot. My mother turned away from me and walked into the living room. Without moving from my spot I could watch her sit in her chair in the living room and stare lifelessly at the television.

Realizing she had nothing else to say to me I felt the pain overwhelm me.

I held back my tears and bolted out of the house as fast as my numb legs could carry me. I had to get as far away from her, that place, as I could. I slid down against a tree when I realized I had no idea where I was supposed to go.

'Why,' I thought, 'why would she do that? I'm her daughter… her only daughter… how?' I wrapped my arms around my knees and let the tears fall. Not caring if anyone was watching. I just let my silent tears fall unheeded to the forest floor.

* * *

Some time later I realized I had left something behind.

"Brooke? Where are you…?" Jean called out. I found myself unable to care that she couldn't find me; I didn't want to go back. I wouldn't be able to. I guess my sigh gave away my position because she came over to where I was rooted and looked down. "Things will be ok," she said, trying to be comforting, I just buried my head deeper in my jeans and didn't answer.

We sat like that for a long time, with me hunched over on the ground and Jean sitting on the ground in front of me, waiting. When I finally felt that the river of tears had stopped making their way down my face, I looked up at the redhead. She was looking at me sadly. We didn't say anything for a few more moments and then she finally broke the silence.

"This is part of your power," she said, completely off topic, gesturing at me with one hand, "If you haven't figured it out yet."

I looked down at myself and while I was pretty positive I didn't feel any different, I looked it. My body was melding into the ground, my skin, clothes, everything from my waist down had turned to shadow, if you can imagine something like that, and had become part of the shadow of the tree.

Well, things just keep on getting better, don't they?

I stood from my spot holding on to my forearms and looked back up at Jean. I felt a little tingle in my legs and, looking down again, rightfully figured that I was visible to onlookers again.

"Ready to go?" Jean asked and moved backwards from where she was standing in front of me.

What was I supposed to do? It didn't seem that my mother was going to let me back in there now. "Go where?"

She pointed a finger to the sky, "Up."

I looked up waiting for the classic 'Look up, look down, your pants are falling down,' that my older brother used to torment me with, that I always countered by kicking his knees out from beneath him. It usually worked, but often enough my fantasized muscles made it seem like a pinch and he would reach around and flick me in the forehead. Instead of that happening, there was a plane, well helicopter actually, hovering silently above us. Would this be the time I'd actually get to say, 'Beam me up…Jeannie!" ? I thought wryly, trying to make light of what was more definitely the worst day of my existence. As tempting as the thought was, I'd save it for a better, more opportune time.

Jean looked at me in puzzlement.

"Are you afraid of heights?"

"Yep."

"Then you might want to close your eyes."

I don't think she liked the Jeannie comment…

And up we went via Jean's flying powers.

I took her advice.

* * *

Now here I am, in a helicopter, plopped down in the belted rock they passed off as a seat. Right. We're heading to some place in New York where I'll be living in some big house with all kinds of people who are just like me. For their sake they should hope they're not exactly like me, I don't think the world would be able to handle it. A so-called bonus being that some of them were even my same age. Feel my non-existent excitement. I figure the ride would take a while, so I sunk down as far as I could and began to slowly sink into depression.

I wonder where Drew is now… Drew is my older brother by five years who is residing in Edmonton and looking for work as complained about endlessly on the phone last week. Childhood was rough with him as a brother, with the noogies, wedgies, and the stealing of my stuffed teddy Mr. Bonkers. Whom I stashed away in one of the bags I managed to take along with me.

How did I manage to get back in the house you ask? I'll admit it now, there are a select few advantages in travelling with an experienced telepath. I got all my stuff and a few keepsakes of Mom's while she was 'busy'. And let me tell you that getting me and the luggage into this flying contraption was a petrifying experience, and probably illegal in three c ountries. I wonder how Drew will take the news… If he finds out, I suppose. I don't expect mother dearest will be relaying it to anyone anytime soon.

Mom.

My mom with her auburn hair and blue eyes, who wore her black-rimmed glasses while she painted… She always smelt like her studio too. She kept the windows open so the sweet smell of the lilacs could waft inside. My mom who makes the best cookies ever. We might have had a housemaid, but she always made sure her cookies were the only ones eaten by Drew or I.

I can't believe she acted the way she did. I didn't think there was anything that could come between us after we got through Dad passing away. We had more than a mother-daughter relationship, we could listen to each other, and while I talked she would braid my hair, since I don't know how to braid. We were friends, I think I could even stretch to saying that we were best friends.

My mother cared about me a lot, and to her, my birthday was one of the most important days of the year. I knew I would have to talk to her eventually. I couldn't just leave things as they were… Nothing is going to stop me from talking to her. Well… unless the phones are being cleaned, or they're broken or something… Nope, my will power will conquer all!

Well…maybe not world hunger… Or cancer… Or the common cold… Or making a better mousetrap…

But… what if she doesn't want to talk to me… Does she still consider me her daughter?

Now I'm getting frustrated. Stupid chopper. With stupid nothing to do. Making me stupid ramble on and on, so I can stupid entertain myself.

…

Are we there yet?

"Not yet Brooke, remember, patience is a virtue." Jean said to me from somewhere in the front of the plane.

I glared at the floor.

Stupid virtues. Stupid telepaths.

"Brooke." Jean said in a warning tone.

I looked down at the strap holding me down and attempted to free myself from its death grip.

"No luck there kid, it's childproof." An unfamiliar voice came from another unknown place in this aircraft.

Growl. So there was someone else involved in this… Why couldn't I see him? At least I hoped it was a guy, it sounded deep enough… Maybe it was a very masculine woman? Or my ears were just going funny from popping as we increased in altitude.

I looked at my surroundings and realized there wasn't anyone else in this part of the copter with me. It made me wonder… And THAT is a dangerous thing, let me tell you.

Why am I alone?

And who said that comment about the childproof buckle? I refuse to let that slide by without penalty. I started to fiddle with the buckle again and grumbled in irritation.

I want Mr. Bonkers…

Why did they put this caging device on me anyway? Am I that hard to trust?

"So far, yes Brooke." Jean answered. "You haven't given us much reassurance that you won't run away.

"And if I could escape this thing, _where_ would I go exactly?"

She didn't reply.

"And that's going to stop you from trying?" she said, I could feel her grin from whatever part of the chopper she was in.

I glowered at the restraint and yanked at it again.

"Stupid, stupid child proof…buckles!"

* * *

Thanks for reading! Sorry for the delay… my beta had some other things to get though…

(Glares at Satori B.)

Satori B – Sorry everyone! (Bows repeatedly…)

Anyway… Please review! I had some fun writing this chapter, and the next will hopefully be out before I go away for camp. …Ciao!

Saor (The new pen name is a gaelic word, I'm pretty sure it either means free or spirit)


	3. Awaiting company

Rebound

Disclaimer- X-men. Me. No.

Chapter 3- Awaiting company

The rest of the trip was spent with me with me slumped down in my seat in a huff, with lots of emotions running around my mind. Confusion, sadness, anger, and frustration. Confusion, because I don't know where I'm being carted off to, sadness because I was basically rejected by my mother, anger because my mother ditched me, I'm being sent somewhere and I haven't even granted them permission, and frustration because telepaths hear everything AND I still have macaroni surprise on my pants!

"Calm down Brooke, we're almost there," Jean coolly said from the front of the chopper.

Hmph. Easy for her to say…

I sighed and looked around for something to distract me from thinking depressing thoughts. But, of course, looking for something to distract from depressing thoughts made me start to think about the depressing thoughts anyway.

Why is this happening? What did I ever do to deserve this?

Well…

There might have been the occasional candy I took from my brother… Or shampoo that I took from mom (it smelled good!)… Or walking on our neighbours' lawn (ignoring the sign that says not to) and then teasing their dog (it barks too loud in the morning!)… Or forgetting to take our dog out a couple of times… Or not cleaning my room… And playing an honest prank or two on my brother before he moved… but his hair grew back eventually (eyebrows and arm hair included)!

I never said I was a saint.

I sighed. It's just never going to be the same now. No more me and mom time, which meant no midnight ice cream runs whenever she deemed it a worthy occasion – or just whenever we wanted a snack – no more spur of the moment trips to the park, at our old house in Cape Breton, to go roller skating, no more watching my mom paint, no more smell of the lilacs wafting through the windows in the morning till the evening.

…Evening.

No more sunsets.

Of course I realized I wouldn't be watching them with anyone after my dad passed away, but I haven't even been up to watching one myself ever since he left. While I was cursing all insane drivers, Jean came into view, walking from where I guessed was the front of the chopper.

"We're just landing now Brooke," she smiled and kept walking past me.

Um, hello, then aren't we forgetting something?

I looked down at my seatbelt in agony.

When it clicked and I was finally freed.

"You're welcome, Brooke."

You'd think it would have been easier if they never belted me down to this seat in the first place and she could've just undid it herself, without the mysterious telepathy thingy…

Jean walked back towards the front of the chopper and sent me a look, one that I figured I'd be getting for a while. I looked right back at her and made a show of finally being out of my seat and able to stretch my arms and legs.

Oh, sweet freedom.

I walked over to a little window in front of my seat and had to stand on my tippy toes to see out of it properly.

Gasp.

That place was just as big… bigger even… than my new… well, old now… place in New Orleans. There's a lake and pool and everything! So many windows! And how tall is it exactly? It's kind of hard to tell since I'm in a chopper hovering above it. So many questions were running through my mind at this point…

Are we landing here?

Is this where I'm staying?

How many people can even fit in there?

Do they leave mints on your pillows?

Is someone standing behind me?

And sure enough when I turned around to see there was a person standing between me and the death seat. I noticed that he didn't have to go on his tippy toes to look out the window and just looked out the window above my head.

Wait a minute…

He?

"Some view, eh?"

Was that some sort of cheap shot at how I couldn't see completely out the window? Just when I decided to ignore him, I realized something.

That voice…

He was the one who made the childproof seatbelt comment!

I turned around to face him again so I could etch the culprits face into my hit list. He was walking away.

"Hey!" I called to see if he'd turn around.

The fiend turned on his heel and looked at me with a grin on his face.

Then I made my second realization in the past two minutes. Record? Yes indeed.

He was kind of good looking…

I shook my head to clear away the thoughts and instead glared at him and turned away.

"Drake. Bobby Drake."

I looked over my shoulder and saw that he was once again standing behind me. With his hand stretched out.

"Oh…um…Brooke Stevens," I looked down at his hand suspiciously and paused a few seconds before tentatively taking it with my own.

There was a pause where we just stood there, shaking each others' hands gently, he looked down at me and smiled and I returned the gesture with one of my own.

He grinned again, "Welcome to Xavier's."

Ah…I see, I took my hand back and crossed my arms, turning back to the window that I couldn't see out of.

These people are clever.

Trying to get me to be happy by having a good looking someone be the first to welcome me here.

I'm on to their little tricks and schemes.

"You know, the window, is up there," Bobby pointed up to where he was level with the window.

I looked up. Not wanting to feel as embarrassed as possible, "I know I was just admiring…the texture… of the metal of the chopper?"

Great recovery.

"Ah, I see," I could feel his smirk from behind me.

I mentally slapped myself and brushed past him walking towards where he had walked out of, hoping that Jean was there. And luckily she was.

She was talking into a little intercomish thing, I figured it was a sort of walkie-talkie, and was talking to people in the building below us.

"Preparing for landing. Brooke hold on to something." Surprised that my name was said; I just nodded and looked for something to hold onto.

Something…

Anything…

Fine.

I went to my last resort and sat back down in the seat. Except without putting the seatbelt. Ha. Take that.

That's when the sensation of descending came and I lurched forward a bit.

And we landed.

"That was quick…" I mumbled and stood from the seat, hoping to not have to go anywhere near it anytime in the near or far future.

"Come on, squirt," Bobby said casually as he walked by.

…

Squirt?

Am not!

I grumbled and followed him with my head down looking at the floor.

"Oof!"

Since my head was down I didn't notice that Bobby had stopped walking. Hence I collided into his back.

"Sorry…" I grumbled. Not knowing if he heard, and honestly not caring if he didn't.

He just grinned, again, and stood waiting humming to himself. Something that sounded awfully like a song out of 'Grease', which just so happened to be one of my favourite movies. Nah, he couldn't be a Travolta fan.

The door on the side of the helicopter opened in front of Bobby and me. Jean stood on the outside of it down on the ground.

How did she get there?

Bobby hopped out, put his hands in his pockets and went to join the group of people standing a few feet away all facing my direction. He turned and joined the line up.

Were they waiting or something?

Jean offered me a hand and I took it timidly; still unsure as to why there were so many people watching my arrival.

I jumped down, not as graceful as I'd hoped, and stood there.

I was getting a little uneasy standing there with so many people looking at me. Maybe they noticed the macaroni? With that thought I turned so they'd only see the part of my outfit that wasn't tarnished with Tuesday's macaroni surprise.

Then I heard a humming sound, and the crowd parted to let a bald guy in a wheel chair through. Was the chair floating?

Weird.

"Welcome Brooke, I'm glad you could make it." Old guy said with a slight smile on his face.

"Oh, um…ok," Was my intelligent answer.

_My name is Charles Xavier, you may call me Professor X, which most of the younger students deem myself._

I nodded slowly, and then realized that no one else would know what I was nodding at and stopped.

_Would you care to follow me inside? _

Not much of a question if you ask me. 'Cause it wasn't as if I had a choice.

The crowd stayed parted and let us go through, with me edgy because I didn't know any of the people around me, and there was still crap on my pants. I avoided eye contact on the most part until Bobby caught my eye, smiled and me an over exaggerated thumbs up. I ignored him and kept following the wheel chair thing.

I noticed that there was a woman with dark skin and white hair, and a man with brown hair and red… sunglasses walking along side the Professor guy talking quietly.

I took the opportunity to take a sigh of relief from being out of all those peoples' gaze, and look at what was around me.

This place was huge! It had two levels, and it looked like there were different wings of the house, and there was a garage, a bigger then usual one anyway, there was so much…area! Great big front lawn with a circle driveway, I can't even imagine what the back yard would look like. In the distance I could see the beginning of a forest. That could be promising.

"In here, Brooke," the lady said. She was standing in the doorway holding open the door for me.

"Coming," I said quietly, and walked to where she was waiting, and into the mansion.

The trio stood in the entryway smiling at me.

I stood there gaping at everything around me. It was much nicer than anything we had at home… Everything here was beautiful and I was so entranced with looking around that I missed the amused look the three adults exchanged at my expense.

"Welcome home, Brooke," Professor X said.

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Hey readers (well I hope anyway..), please review! It'll let me know to keep going..not to keep going.. so do me a favour kay? Review!

----Saor


	4. Chapter 4

Hey readers! Got this chapter up way sooner then I thought I would, enjoy! And please review, it lets me know that you like my story...)

Disclaimer- Don't own X-men

Rebound

Chapter 4- First Impressions

I whipped out of my stupor at the glamorous décor as soon as he said…that…word. Home? Not likely…

I regained my composure (as much as I'd had in the first place…), and stood with my arms crossed, facing them with a determined look on my face.

"This isn't my home."

Professor McBald and Shiny raised an eyebrow to this and smirked.

"Well, you are new here, but I hope that one day you will believe it to be." He smiled. The other two around them smiled down at me too.

I scoffed. Sure whatever.

"Excuse my manners Brooke, to my left is a senior member of the residents here at the mansion, Ororo Monroe. On the field her name is Storm. You may go to her if you have any problems or questions you need answering."

The said person, Or-…Oreo…Oregon? Miss Monroe, smiled, "I'm glad to meet you, Brooke."

While she was talking I was focussing on how white her hair was, I mean she didn't look a day over forty… Did she dye it white? Who doest that?

"And to my right, is another senior member of the mansion and leader of the X-Men, Scott Summers. On the field or in training exercises his name is Cyclops."

Scott? Like…Scotties? Isn't that a type of toilet paper? Heh…heh… I totally didn't catch the X-Men thing. Didn't care. That was going to come back and bite me later…

He nodded down at me.

"Err…Hi, I'm Brooke Stevens." That was all they were going to get.

Silence.

Well, this is awkward.

"Would you like a tour of the house then, Brooke? It would be most helpful considering you will be staying here for a while, I presume?" Professor X said, with yet another grin on his face.

You mean I have a choice about this? Well in that case…wait…I don't have anywhere else to go…curses!

"Sure, I suppose it couldn't hurt …"

"I will assume that you, Ororo, will be escorting Brooke around the mansion?" he turned to…Or..Oreo? Darn speech impediments!

"Yes, Charles," she smiled at me and beckoned me to follow her.

"I will be seeing you later Brooke, enjoy yourself," with that he went back out the doors, probably to where all those people were still standing.

"See you," Scotties called over his shoulder as he left with Charles.

"Well, shall we begin?" she smiled.

I nodded, 'sooner we start, the sooner we get it over with...'

"Where we are standing now is the is the foyer, basically the entryway, and in front of us are the main stairs that obviously lead to the second story." She gestured her hand towards the staircase, kind of like a Vanna White impression.

This place is really…really…I can't even think of a word to describe it, spectacular? No…Magnificent? No. Homey? Kind of…I'm not sure, I'll probably think of it later. For now, I think I'll just try to pay attention.

"This way now, Brooke," she walked to the right of the staircase and stopped at the beginning of a hallway.

She turned to face me and pointed to the right, "Those are Xavier's chambers and his office; you'll only need to go in there if you're told to."

I guess visiting him would mean I did a bad thing… well, that's what I got from the way she said it. It couldn't be a good thing to be paying visits to the headmaster, could it?

"To your left is Xavier's study, and to your right is the informal sitting room," she said and gestured to each room as she spoke.

"You sound like a safari guide," I commented and took a step into the sitting room to notice all the cushy chairs and couches, this looks promising.

"Some days I feel like I'm in one," she sighed but smiled quickly afterwards. "But it's worth it."

"Nice cover up…" I muttered and followed behind her.

"And here, if you haven't guessed is the library, where many of the students come to do their school work and such, rarely coming to actually read the books," she murmured. Looking around I figured this would be where Drew could stay for the rest of his life. Providing it had a bathroom and kitchen built in to one of the shelves…

There were shelves upon shelves of book of all kinds, (the rows were labelled) single person work areas, tables for group work, and computers against one stretch of the wall. There were curtains outlining the windows and lamps near most of the tables.

"Wow," I said kind of impressed. But books aren't really my thing – unless you count the time that I switched all the book covers on all my brother's books. It took him so long to get the right covers on all his books; I took a few of them for good measure too.

Good times.

"We still have more to see. Let's continue," she smiled and waited for me in the hallway. "Where was it you used to live, Brooke?"

I looked up at her, "I lived in New Orleans for a year, and before that was born and raised in Canada, in Cape Breton," I said, happy with something to talk about instead of the continuous silence.

"I thought I heard something in your voice - it must be the country accent," she smiled a little at that. "Did you like it there?"

Still a little touchy on the voice comment, I tried to tone down whatever it was she was hearing, "Yeah, I really did."

She stopped, "You really must miss it…" she trailed off. "To your right is the kitchen," she gestured to the swingy door.

Kitchen! I walked a bit faster, pushing through the swinging door eagerly. Once I entered the kitchen I gleefully took in the sight of cupboards adorning the wall, an island in the middle of the room, the sink behind that and the giant refrigerator stuck in one corner.

Paradise.

Not saying that I have an obsession with food or anything… I'm more like a connoisseur. I like food, cooking it, on the other hand… not so much.

I was tempted to go and open the fridge to see what kind of food was in this house when someone came in through the door that myself and…Storm…just came through.

"Good afternoon, Ororo," he…or it smiled toothily.

This person… was big! And blue! And… blue! And was wearing, a lab coat? And glasses?

"Hello, Hank, busy day in the labs?" she questioned and smiled back at…Hank?

"Oh, you know the usual, just monitoring a few experiments I have currently under observation." The blue guy looked passed her shoulder and saw me. Crap, I thought I had been doing a good job of hiding behind her too. "And who might this be?"

"This is a new student here Hank, Brooke Stevens," she smiled and moved aside so he could see me properly.

"Stevens? Well, it's about time you made your appearance, I must say! If you find yourself with nothing to occupy yourself some time over the next week I would greatly appreciate if you could spare some time to visit me in the laboratory."

"Um…sure?" I was a little surprised at his comment.

"Most excellent! Oh pardon me, I'm Doctor Hank, but it would be please me if you addressed me as Hank," he smiled and at the same time grabbed something out of the fridge. He walked over to me and shook my hand, "I shall see you soon, Miss Stevens," and with that, he departed as quick as he came.

"You'll have to excuse him, he gets a little into his research," she laughed a little.

"What does his research have to do with me?" I wondered aloud and turned to her with a confused look on my face.

"I'm not sure, you'll have to ask when you go down to see him," she walked towards the door to continue on with the tour. "Coming Brooke?"

I walked to follow her as my answer.

She went right across the hall and into another room, "This is the informal dining room, where we eat, more or less together, most evenings."

I looked in to see a long table with lots of chairs around it.

"This is where you'll be eating a lot of your meals," she said.

Go figure.

We left that room and continued down the hall to a bigger room.

"This, is the living room," she gestured and moved aside so I could see it all.

"Wow," I said again, and took in the plush carpet, cushy-looking couches and chairs, the giant TV on one wall, and the fireplace against another.

I resisted the temptation to jump onto one of the couches. They just looked so comfy!

"This is the formal dining room, we use it for holidays and occasions that are deemed special by the Professor. Actually, tomorrow will be one of those nights, so you will most certainly be eating here. The dinner tomorrow night is so everyone can meet the new intake of students. We've had quite a few new faces join us this past month."

I nodded in understanding. Well, understanding that I'll be finding a good hiding spot between now and then.

There was another fireplace against the wall, and there were giant windows around the room too. The table was shaped like a 'U' and there were chairs surrounding it on all sides and even a chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

"Classy," was my only comment.

"And now for the second floor," she smiled and led me to the staircase.

Looking up them I groaned. So many stairs!

She was already halfway up them, and I was standing there at the base, glaring at them.

"They won't hurt you, Brooke," she smiled.

Sigh.

"Stupid stairs…" I grumbled and climbed them one step at a time.

I was a bit out of breath by the time I got to the second floor.

"You'll get used to them," she said encouragingly.

"Yeah…sure…" I managed.

"To your left is the girls side, where we have our own bathroom, and rooms, some are single, some are doubles, no boys are allowed to come onto this side of the second floor and the same goes for us on their side. Which is the right side of the floor." She pointed down the hall on the right side of the stairs. Where I thought I smelled something that smelled like gym socks and old cheese.

"Will I get a single room?" I asked hopefully. Not wanting to share a room with someone I didn't know.

"Luckily for you yes, a new student decided she would prefer sharing a room with another new student - leaving a single room for you," she led me past a wooden door which I figured to be the bathroom, and three doors passed it and on the left side of the hallway we stopped.

I looked up at her. "Is this it?"

She nodded, "It has only the essentials – a bed, closet, dresser, desk, and mirror. We'll need to go shopping to get whatever else you need to make the room more to your liking."

I nodded and turned the knob.

She forgot to mention that it had a window seat. That immediately caught my attention. I've always wanted one of those. The desk was against the wall in front of the door, and walking in I saw that the closet was to my left as soon as I walked in, and walking in a but further I saw that the bed was around the corner, and the dresser was in the furthest corner.

"Swanky," I commented.

"Well, it still needs a few things but we'll get them soon. Shall we finish the tour?"

She showed me where Xavier's chambers were, so I knew never to go there, whether on accident or on purpose, and the playroom.

"This is the playroom," she pointed towards a door.

"A playroom?" What, are there babies here?

She opened the door to show more couches and a cool looking mat covering a hardwood floor, and against a wall was another big TV, not as big as the one in the living room, but big anyway, and then there were all kinds of game systems, and games were on shelves covering the walls! Wow.

"Not exactly what you had in mind was it?" she asked.

I shook my head.

At this point I heard the door opening and the sounds of voices, lots of voices, coming in the doors.

"I guess everyone is coming back in now. I'm sure you'll get your chance to see the sub levels soon enough, oh, the door to the right of the entry way leads to the basement, which has a TV room, with more game systems and games and movies, as well as the laundry room, and computer room and a storage room."

I nodded, thinking I'd check it out later.

The voices were getting louder now so I figured the people were climbing the stairs.

"Well, that's all for now I think, my room is the attic and you may come and see me with whatever you need," she finished warmly and walked towards the staircase.

I nodded; I was too distracted in thinking about how I would be able to avoid as many people in the mansion as possible to notice the mat that covered the floor at the top of the staircase. By the time I did notice it, it was too late, my foot slid under that little tuft of mat that stuck out and allowed me to trip over it. Before I could stop myself and gain my balance I was already free falling down onto the landing in front of all those people climbing the stairs! It's the macaroni experience all over again!

I heard laughter and felt the embarrassment come. There's definitely no way I could show my face ever again!

The laughter then tuned down a bit and I looked up from where my face was on the floor to look at my audience. There were still traces of laughter on their faces but other then that, they looked plain confused.

Thinking I knew what they were confused about I looked down at where I knew my hands to be.

And saw that they weren't there again.

Thank god.

I didn't know how long the disappearing act would last so before I became visible again, I got up and booked it to my room, three doors down from the bathroom. I opened the door silently and shut the door quietly behind me.

I breathed a sigh of relief and felt the same tingling sensation that happened earlier that day and knew I could be seen again.

I slid down with my back against the door.

"Curse you first impressions!"

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There's Chapter 4 for you! Hope you liked it, any suggestions you have or comments, or anything, just press that little button, a little note changes a writers view on a lot of things, so review please!

Saor


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